Splatter School [new] • Editor's Choice

For decades, this remained a high-art secret. Art schools taught technique. But in the 2010s, a shift occurred. "Paint and sip" studios began offering "Splatter Rooms." Social media influencers, tired of perfect flat lays, discovered the dopamine hit of throwing a cup of neon paint at a white sheet.

In the landscape of film history, few movements have been met with as much visceral revulsion and academic dismissal as the one colloquially known as "Splatter School." Neither a formal institution nor a geographically bound movement, Splatter School refers to a loose collective of filmmakers—primarily active in the late 1970s and early 1980s—who rejected the suggestion that violence should be implied. For them, the red stuff was the point. SPLATTER SCHOOL

Many fine artists are now fusing the two. They will paint a realistic portrait of a face using a brush, and then splatter the background. The contrast between the controlled face and the violent background is often more powerful than either element alone. For decades, this remained a high-art secret